


sourpuss

by taonsils (mirokkuma)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Cat/Human Hybrids, Hybrids, M/M, Neurodiverse Character, mentioned xiuchen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-04-29 20:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14480613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirokkuma/pseuds/taonsils
Summary: “That’s me,” he says, and that’s when Kyungsoo notices the curl of his tail peeking out behind his back.Kyungsoo is both a polite man and a master of understated reactions, line of vision quickly tripping down from the fur to Junmyeon’s denim jacket, to their hands as they shake. Hands? Paws?





	sourpuss

**Author's Note:**

> prompt R3-24 | Kyungsoo goes on a blind date after much persuasion. His expectations are set quite low, but to find himself on a date with a kitty hybrid? Yeah, kind of wild.
> 
> this is basically just some grumpy flirting between people who aren't sure what they want and discussions around the hybrid industry, I hope it's not too boring haha;; my original idea for this was both (much) shorter and (MUCH) less Serious, but it grew of it's own accord. (It didn't really fit in the tags but I didn't want there to be any confusion over it; chansoo are very close but it's a 100% platonic relationship).  
> prompter, I hope I got the fluffy/realism balance to your liking and its enjoyable! mods thank you for being so approachable and lovely !♡

“I know saying it again isn’t going to help, but I don’t want to do this.”  
  
“I know,” Chanyeol pouts sympathetically. “You really don’t have to. There’s time.” He shrugs up his sleeve, glancing at the face of his fancy shiny watch. “They said they live nearby, right? You could maybe still catch them before they set off.”  
  
Kyungsoo sighs, but the commotion of the train opening at a stop covers it. He lifts the hem of his long cardigan and shifts closer to Chanyeol to make space. He’s barely exchanged three texts with his blind date, but one was to assure them they didn’t have to apologise for needing a location close to home. Necessity, they said. That’s fine.  
  
“I do, though. Have to,” he says close to Chanyeol’s ear. If he doesn’t go he’ll never hear the end of it. Sometimes he almost wishes his family _had_ disowned him for coming out. His parents he has the option to let down, at least, but it’s not like the person on the other end of this mess is responsible for it. That’s mostly what’s kept Kyungsoo motivated throughout the lead up to D-Day. (“Date day. _Date_.”. “Dick,” Jongdae insisted, throwing the shirt Kyungsoo had picked out back into his closet, “If you’re lucky.”).  
  
“I mean, not _really_.” Chanyeol’s slouched back comfortably in his seat now the new passengers are settled. Their thighs are pressed tight, and Kyungsoo really wonders if he needs any more intimacy in his life than he gets from his friends. “But if going will make you feel better than not, that’s what matters.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s date was _eager_ , if you can really trust information that’s been passed from cousin to brother and possibly gone through an aunt first. It’s going to be an exercise in letting someone down gently. That’s just what happens in dating situations that involve your meddling family - Kyungsoo’s had practice at this before now.  
  
“You’re nice, soo,” Chanyeol says just as Kyungsoo is considering that he must be a terrible person. “You’re charming, and you’re funny, and anyone would be thrilled to have you turn up as their date.”  
  
Kyungsoo feels a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth and looks down between his feet.  
  
“You dress like a four but overall you’re a nine. And like, lots of dates don’t work out, people expect that. But you’re at least- Ah,” Chanyeol looks up at the sign above the doors as they start to slow, “This is you, right?”  
  
Sure is. Kyungsoo gives Chanyeol’s thigh a quick squeeze in thanks - for escorting him this far, and the little pep talk - and Chanyeol pats his forearm in return.  
  
“Don’t wish me luck,” Kyungsoo says as he stands, “Or anything like that. When I get back home let’s act like this didn’t happen.”  
  
Chanyeol nods solemnly. Kyungsoo straightens his cardigan, gives Chanyeol a little wave with his fingers, and steps out from the artificial heat to a breath of salty air.  
  
Ok. Ok, polite greetings, civil conversation, excuses to leave after an hour. Kyungsoo can do that. Yeah. He sighs, pushing layers aside to reach into his pocket for his phone. The least Jongdae could have let him do is keep his shirt tucked in, but apparently that wouldn’t suit the atmosphere.  
  
  
Not that Kyungsoo has actually dated much, but it’s always been a sit down and make small talk over dinner kind of occasion. Which definitely isn’t something he’d wanted a repeat of, but the port feels sort of out of his depth. It’s a nice looking place - very photogenic, all soft strings of lights set against the dark blues of the clouds and sky and night sea. Very.. young. If he wasn’t already 29 he wouldn’t even have to be on this date.  
  
Kyungsoo wanders slowly, taking in what he can while he’s still alone and can squint into the distance as much as he wants. Seems nice enough and the smell of good food is in the air. Just, you know, being at home with your roommate and his generous home cooking is nice too.  
  
[Are you here yet?] he types out slowly. If Chanyeol was here (if only; he could do all the talking) he’d tell Kyungsoo to use emojis. He’s not usually wrong when it comes to people-ing. [I’m by the steps leading down to the water (moon)(wave)]    
  
He’s had his date’s number since this was arranged two weeks ago, but as yet he hasn’t made use of it other than to confirm he received the directions. Small talk in person is bad enough; spending your own time in your own home having to _text_ small talk is his worst nightmare. Anyway, it would be rude, he thinks, to quiz someone and prejudge. A blind date is a blind date. He really doesn’t know anything about this person at all, aside from the fact they respected his silence and stopped sending friendly emojis after three days.  
  
The message flashes from sent to read. Kyungsoo taps his phone against his palm. _Junmyeon_ absolutely sounds like a male name, but he’s been sparing himself the optimism. Maybe he should be less wary of this all. It’s just hard to imagine his family could have had anything to do with it and not found him a girl. Definitely a girl. And that would be fine - Kyungsoo is absolutely fine with whatever gender his date is. It’s just the intent he feels prickly about. Someone picked out for him is less likely to be his type, more likely to be young, bubbly, eager to start a family..  
  
His phone vibrates, mercifully ending that train of thought.  
  
[I can see you!!]  
  
Kyungsoo isn’t wearing his glasses, but his head whips up anyway. He doesn’t know what his date looks like, anyway. He’s scanning the fuzzy features of people walking by for one that’s looking his way when to his left comes a cheerful, “You must be Kyungsoo.”  
  
It’s a male voice. Bless. His date is a man.  
  
Kyungsoo’s fixed on his best neutral-polite face when he turns, but he didn’t need to. “Junmyeon,” he says, almost startled at how instinctively he wants to return the smile he’s greeted with. A handsome face, and- an _incredibly_ handsome face, honestly. Attractive, friendly smile, sparkling eyes, neat light hair. Soft dark ears. Fluffy, fluffy ears. It’s a man. A cat. Man.  
  
“That’s me,” he says, and that’s when Kyungsoo notices the curl of his tail peeking out behind his back.  
  
Kyungsoo is both a polite man and a master of understated reactions, line of vision quickly tripping down from the fur to Junmyeon’s denim jacket, to their hands as they shake. Hands? Paws?  
  
“Actually I guessed it was you because I could barely see you,” Junmyeon beams, like Kyungsoo’s gloomy lack of response to his texts had been a fun clue, “The one wearing all black, with black hair, standing in front of the darkest spot around.”  
  
“That’s me,” Kyungsoo echoes. “Apart from the hair. Unless I’ve officially crossed the border from stubble now.” He rubs a palm over the back of his head as though he doesn’t know what his own prickly scalp feels like. Maybe he’s just trying to get a laugh out of his date. He certainly isn’t expecting to have a stranger’s hand (paw?) join his own and rub.  
  
“Oh, that’s definitely hair. It’s soft,” Junmyeon smiles, and Kyungsoo isn’t sure how to say this is very close very soon. Junmyeon probably gets that a lot himself, what with the ears, so maybe it doesn’t seem as wildly inappropriate as it does to a human. Thankfully he quickly loses interest and stuffs his hands into his pockets, turning away from Kyungsoo and the inky stretch of sea and night sky behind them. “Shall we go somewhere less foreboding?”  
  
Kyungsoo nods. “You’re a local, right? I’ll trust it to you.” It’s reflexive that when Junmyeon smiles at him he smiles back. That thought of making conversation doesn’t seem as daunting as it did five minutes ago.  
  
It’s kind of hypnotic, the way Junmyeon’s tail sways behind his back as he walks ahead. There is absolutely no polite way to question if he let on that he’s a cat when his cousin set this up. It was by _email_ for gods sake.  
  
“Shall I bring up that I’m a hybrid now so we don’t have to feel uncomfortable about addressing it?” Junmyeon’s turned back to Kyungsoo and he hadn’t even noticed. He’s still smiling, if only with his mouth and not his eyes anymore. He could read Kyungsoo’s silence as staring.  
  
“Sorry,” Kyungsoo’s face heats, “Did I seem surprised?”  
  
Things get blurry for Kyungsoo about a foot from his face; Junmyeon’s still close enough that he sees the way his slit eyes skim him. “Surprised is fine. Who wouldn’t be?” Junmyeon shrugs, “I prefer surprised to when people’s eyes light up like they’ve just won a prize.”  
  
Oh. Kyungsoo feels hot across the back of his neck, too, suddenly unsure if he should feel guilty. Suddenly very aware that he knows next to nothing about how things are in the hybrid community. “Does that..”  
  
“Unless it’s another hybrid I wouldn’t trust anyone who specifically searched a hybrid out for a date. Put it that way.” For a moment Junmyeon’s tail seems stiff, lashing in tight movements behind his back. But then he smiles again, gestures for Kyungsoo to keep walking alongside him. “Surprised is fine!” he reiterates with a laugh, “If it’s good-surprised, obviously. Bad-surprised isn’t a great start to a date.”  
  
“You go on a lot of dates?” Kyungsoo asks, then a beat later realises how it sounds. Ugh. This is why he steers clear of small talk. “I don’t, I mean. I know some people like the social aspect and date casually for fun, but..” he winces, “I’m rusty,” he offers, though Junmyeon probably doesn’t need telling that to have realised. Well, he almost recovered it. Junmyeon just looks amused.  
  
“I go on a lot of dates,” Junmyeon replies, grins, and bumps Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “I’ll go easy on you. I don’t keep scores or anything, I promise.”  
  
  
Junmyeon’s- adorable probably isn’t the right word. Kyungsoo would guess that Junmyeon is older than himself, and adorable isn’t what most men in their thirties want to be. Maybe it’s condescending to say that about a hybrid anyway. Not that Kyungsoo is planning on voicing the thought, but it’s impossible not to think it as Junmyeon bats a screwed up napkin around between his hands (paws? Is it rude to ask?). He doesn’t look like he’s even registering what he’s doing.  
  
“This place is nice,” Kyungsoo says, because that’s what you say when there’s a long silence. It’s a family diner that’s a haphazard combination of functionally child-friendly and as glowing and Instagram-ready as the rest of the port. At this time of day it’s all high schoolers stretching out orders between them and laughing loud enough to filter out the doors. The relaxed atmosphere is working better for him than a classy restaurant ever has. “Have you been before?”  
  
Junmyeon’s pointed ears swivel in his hair. It’s fascinating. “You mean is this where I take all of the many dates I have?” he asks nonchalantly, ignoring the way Kyungsoo’s eyes widen. “Because it is, actually. It’s not all that safe for cats to be out at night, you know? I live nearby. It’s well-lit and busy.”  
  
“Ah,” Kyungsoo says. Junmyeon tilts his head. He’s wearing a hoodie under the jacket, soft pink to match the flush in his cheeks from the heat indoors. He’s very cute. Kyungsoo intentionally showed up looking like a storm cloud, and now he kind of wishes he hadn’t.

“Most people find that odd. Cats not liking being out at night.”  
  
Kyungsoo reaches for his soda. “More of a dog person,” he says around the straw. Junmyeon laughs at that, and Kyungsoo wonders if he’s failing or passing this test. If another human tried him like this he’d make his excuses and leave. In Junmyeon’s situation it’s understandable.  
  
Kyungsoo has seen hybrids around before, obviously, though now he’s giving it some thought he’s probably never actually spoken to one. Two lifestyles that have never had cause to interact. Kyungsoo lives in an area that doesn’t have the demographic that can afford expensive pets. Not that- he glances up at Junmyeon, a guilty apology in his mouth just for thinking it. Not that he thinks Junmyeon is just some pet.  
  
All you really see in media about independent hybrids is how they’re always campaigning, protesting, complaining about something or another. That’s media for you. Though Kyungsoo could easily imagine this particular cat putting up a good protest. He doesn’t particularly seem to _want_ Kyungsoo to like him. In a way it’s taking the pressure off, which is actually appreciated.

“I didn’t think you were going to show up, to be honest. With this set up the way it was, and then your enthusiastic response to texting..” Junmyeon takes his elbows off the table as their waitress arrives with the food. He gives her a grateful smile, much more round cheeks and crinkled eyes than the cheshire grins Kyungsoo’s been getting. “Now I find out you’re a _dog person_.”  
  
Kyungsoo thinks - hopes - he’s got a good enough read on how this works now. “Sorry I turned up,” he says without looking up from his food. It was the right response, judging by the way Junmyeon wriggles in his seat.  
  
It’s not like Kyungsoo went into this with the intention of disliking his date or anything. Just enough past experience to know it was unlikely he’d hit it off with them. As first dates go, so far Junmyeon is the cheapest, rudest person he’s sat across a table from. And he’s smiling back at him.  
  
  
“So why all the dates?” Kyungsoo asks, poking an olive that had made it into his pasta unsliced around the plate. “I keep getting set up by my family. They don’t want me to die alone. And won’t listen to anything I have to say about my feelings on relationships.”  
  
“Oh? I’m listening,” Junmyeon leans on both elbows, giving Kyungsoo an indulgent kitten smile. “With two sets of ears,” he adds, and Kyungsoo nearly coughs out the mouthful he’s chewing. “Compensates for being ignored before, right?”  
  
“I just don’t enjoy it. No offence,” Kyungsoo says after gulping down more soda. It’s so loud in here. Normally he’d hate it, but all the sugar and Junmyeon’s terrible sense of humour is easing him into relaxing, making him louder to match. “Just, all of it, the awkward dates with people my parents like. One of their two children having grandkids not being enough. Routine sharing, plan sharing, having to make all your decisions together.. I know how I like living my life, so far I haven’t found giving it up to share with someone else worth the bother.”  
  
Junmyeon, being a hybrid, doesn’t have parents as such, or siblings as such, and if he can have kittens he doesn’t say so. Just hums, pouts. “Weird, isn’t it. Humans start out alone then pair up and share a life. Hybrids start out with a human.”  
  
“That’s true,” Kyungsoo shrugs. The whole industry has always seemed pretty shady to him, but those aren’t Junmyeon’s questions to answer. “I’m guessing that’s how your dating story starts?” he asks, and maybe he should read up a bit on cat body language if they do this again. Junmyeon’s tail is pretty expressive, it’s just Kyungsoo’s not sure what it’s trying to say.  
  
Wait, if they do this again? Did he think that?  
  
“It’s been two years since I lost my collar,” Junmyeon says, unexpectedly sober after how much shit he’s been talking all night. He raises a hand to his neck and pinches his thumb and fingers — not mimicking the collar around his throat, but the tag hanging from it. “If I didn’t start moving on at some point two years can pretty quickly become five, then ten.”  
  
“Oh,” Kyungsoo fiddles with the straw in his glass. Makes his story sound pretty stupid.  
  
“Obviously I’m not looking for another owner. Just some company. You have no idea how relieved I am not to be a pack animal,” Junmyeon laughs, but Kyungsoo doesn’t really get it, and it wasn’t all that funny. He tamps his smile back down and taps his claws on the edge of the table. “You humans aren’t easy to get along with, you know? So I get through a lot.”  
  
Yeah, that feeling Kyungsoo knows well. “That’s why I avoid them instead.”  
  
Junmyeon hums and smiles again, cheeks round and flushed dark. “Like I said, at least it’s not as urgent for me. If you’re a dog person then you know how they get.”  
  
For whatever reason hybrids become independent, it must be way harder for dogs. Kyungsoo can’t imagine what it would be like for a pup coming to terms with having no owner. “Oh,” he startles when Junmyeon’s ear twitches. He’d been zoned out staring straight at it.  
  
“Sorry,” he ducks his head, rubs the back of his hair. Thinks about Junmyeon’s paw doing the same and feels too hot under these lights wearing a cardigan. “Didn’t mean to stare.”  
  
Junmyeon has this way of moving, slow and measured, almost lazy. How a cat walks along a narrow fence like it’s easy, how they stretch out in the sun. He’s giving Kyungsoo that look again. Dozy and indifferent and most definitely calculating, weighing up how trustworthy this human is compared to the others. “Stare all you like. You wouldn’t be embarrassed if I stared at your ears.”  
  
“I have a friend that would be.”  
  
Against the back of his seat Junmyeon’s tail curls like a candy cane. Kyungsoo really didn’t expect to like him, but something about it makes him smile. Junmyeon looking at him like that, like maybe he’s not so bad - Kyungsoo’s probably been doing the same.  
  
“Well, I don’t mind looking. No petting though. Not until, hmm,” Junmyeon taps a finger to his chin thoughtfully, “At least the third date. If you want to pet me you’ll just have to take me out again.“  
  
“Three dates,” Kyungsoo repeats, like that was more shocking than the implication that Junmyeon may genuinely be open to another date in the first place. That’d be his second date in.. well. A while. He doesn’t really like thinking further back than when he still had hair.  
  
“Normally I’d make it two. But you’re a dog person, no? I think you should wait a little longer.”  
  
Kyungsoo isn’t really one for making spontaneous decisions, but he’s said, “Deal,” before he can catch up with himself. “Although you petted me within a minute of meeting me, so that seems pretty unfair.”  
  
Junmyeon grins across at him. “You really don’t know much about cats, do you?”  
  
Kyungsoo sticks the straw back in his mouth before anything else stupid can come out of it.  


  
It’s a five minute walk from the port back to the station. Kyungsoo doesn’t think to check his phone until he’s three stops down the line. There’s only five people likely to text him, only two he’d actually want to respond to. Thankfully only one of the notifications is from his mother. The rest are Chanyeol.  
  
[was it a cute?]  
[cute boy or girl???]  
[are you having a nice time :o]  
[you ok!!?!]  
[did you fall in the water]  
[worried :(((]  
  
Oops. It is pretty late - Kyungsoo’s one of only three people in this carriage. When he looks up from his phone all that’s opposite him is the dark night, and the ghost of his reflection. _You got a second date_ , he thinks, his reflection’s eyebrows raising.  
  
[Sorry, Yeollie. Would you believe me that it went so well I didn’t notice how late it was?]  


———

  
It’s an unfair benefit to Kyungsoo working from home, Chanyeol says, that he could sleep in if he wants. Unfair because Kyungsoo never does want to, really. It’s true - he could sleep the morning away if he wanted. He could do all his work from bed, if he wanted, but he’s almost always up before Chanyeol. Chanyeol’s never asked, but Kyungsoo usually makes breakfast for them both, and sometimes lunch for Chanyeol to take with him too depending on his plans for the day. Chanyeol’s often so absorbed in whatever he’s up to that he entirely forgets he needs food. If Kyungsoo’s made it for him the gesture keeps it close enough to the surface that he remembers.  
  
Today Chanyeol is back at volunteering. Wherever he gets assigned they provide food, so it was just cereal together on the couch and Kyungsoo getting the place to himself for an early start. It’s an incredibly boring job, basically being a digital intern. He sorts out remote email accounts, does all the drag and drop stuff before the designers get to do the actual work, essentially just cleans up the mess all the actual employees make of the shared documents. That’s what you get for only bothering to show up to a handful of exams. Doing this kind of work in an actual office with stairs and constant drink runs was worse.  
  
Thankfully he and Chanyeol bonded the moment they met, but it’s not like Kyungsoo had actually planned to still essentially be crashing with a friend by this age. Chanyeol’s parents fund him living independently (because Chanyeol was a much better student than Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol worked too hard for everything he hasn’t been able to have. They couldn’t bear not to at least let him have this until he’s on his own feet). When Kyungsoo was in his early twenties the thought of reduced rent and shared bills was ideal. Now he’s nearly 30 and..well, that’s still good.  
  
Kyungsoo swirls his last mouthful of coffee around the mug while he skims a spreadsheet with a font that’s distorting the cells, hiding the last word of each line. He was hoping to be done by afternoon today. Not so he could have the evening open just for sitting around texting Junmyeon, but, well, he does actually quite enjoy texting him. And seeing as he’ll be free, what’s to stop them from meeting up again?  
  
Idly spinning from side to side in his desk chair, Kyungsoo’s thoughts drift from the spreadsheet back to his circumstances. Maybe not with Junmyeon - he’s not getting ahead of himself here - but when was the last time he even considered a future with someone? Has he really just settled for being Chanyeol’s eternal roommate and growing old with him in these three rooms? They haven’t even reached the stage of adulthood where they’re framing the posters yet. It’s-  
  
The buzzer sounds. Kyungsoo startles, then sinks deeper into his chair. No thank you, whoever it is. But it could be mail, or Chanyeol with some creative new injury (volunteering has so far ranged from chopping vegetables to being driven out to the base of a mountain to pick litter; the possibilities are endless), so up Kyungsoo gets.  
  
“Oh,” he says between peering through the peephole to opening the door to Jongdae. Jongdae beams. His hair is parted down the centre and sweeping off to the sides in that way that makes him look like he’s actively trying to show people he’s a good boy. (Which he is not.)  


“Did I forget we were meeting up?” Kyungsoo steps aside to let Jongdae in. “I thought we s-“ Something suddenly smacks into his shoulder. “ _Hey_ -” He tries to bat whatever it is away, but it’s small and fast and Jongdae’s outright cackling as Kyungsoo swipes at air to at least try and protect his glasses.  
  
“I can see why these make good toys,” Jongdae says, and Kyungsoo warily drops his defence to see what he’s holding. A green plastic rod with an elastic string, and a very round, jingling goldfish attached to the end. Kyungsoo squints. Jongdae flicks the fish into his shoulder again. “Something to spice up your second date.”  
  
Oh. Ha ha. “You really wasted money to be unfunny.” Kyungsoo pushes Jongdae down the hallway and elbows the door closed behind them.  
  
“Handmade.” Jongdae bounces the golf ball shaped fish in his palm and yes, Kyungsoo supposes, the fabric it’s crafted from is nice. “This is an artisan product. I’m supporting local business to be unfunny.”  
  
“And insulting,” Kyungsoo adds, taking the rod and setting it out of harms way on the small table between the two couches, “It’s not funny that he’s a hybrid.”  
  
“Kyungsoo, it’d be funny whoever you were dating. You. Dating.”  
  
“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says with a wry smile, but it’s taking effort not to all-out grin. He knows. He’s still bemused enough by it himself. “Did you just come here to drop off your unfunny, insulting gift?”  
  
Shaking his head makes the little flicks of Jongdae’s hair bounce. “Schedule mix up - I have the morning off. Thought I’d come by and take you out for your weekly socialising quota. Unless you have pla~ns,” he croons and does that thing with his eyebrows.  
  
“I need to finish up what I was working on,” Kyungsoo replies first, to buy him a moment to decide. He’d like to see Junmyeon today, but there’s no guarantee he’d be free. And Jongdae, who is the closest to a proper adult out of all of them, doesn’t have all that much free time what with the husband and their impending move and all. Hmm. Obvious choice. “After that I’m all yours. We didn’t arrange the second date yet or anything.”  
  
Jongdae clasps his hands to his chest. “What? Why not? _Kyungsoo_ , you’re gonna lose him before you’ve barely even gotten in there.” Charming. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and sinks back into his chair. Jongdae trails after him. “Tell me all about the prize kitty then I’ll tell you what to text him, yeah? Yes? Good?”  
  
“You’re the one that managed to get married,” Kyungsoo shrugs, then spins his chair back to his desk to focus on his laptop.  
  
  
It’s not that Kyungsoo is out of his depth in social situations - Chanyeol isn’t wrong that he’s a charmer - it’s just that he generally has better things to be doing with his time. Socialising with anyone that isn’t an established friend is both tedious and pointless. People just don’t interest him all that much when there’s movies to watch, books to read, food to cook, things to learn. But Junmyeon..he’s kind of obnoxious, but he’s also interesting. In the sense that Kyungsoo finds himself wondering what Junmyeon’s opinion would be when he sees things in the news, and he actually anticipates replies to texts. But also in the sense that the more they talk, the more Kyungsoo is coming to realise that past the defensive wariness Junmyeon is sweet, polite, and stubborn as hell. Kyungsoo likes it.  
  
Not to mention that he’s ridiculously attractive. Jongdae didn’t need to know that part. Gossiping about men over coffee was..actually kind of fun, if mostly pointless. Jongdae talks about married life with Minseok as though Kyungsoo’s never met him (he introduced them), and Kyungsoo was never going to be receptive to dating advice from the man who proposed naked. Even if he did get a result.

  
  
So Kyungsoo doesn’t take any of Jongdae’s advice on what to text Junmyeon, but he does make the decision to stop waiting to see if Junmyeon’s going to initiate. Their previous conversation was yesterday lunchtime, Junmyeon talking about the awful click bait article he’s working on and Kyungsoo sympathetically telling him about the last angry client email that had been passed to him to deal with. Riveting stuff.  
  
[Will you be free this weekend?] he sends. He taps his thumbs on the sides of his phone. Maybe a little less formal. [(coffee)] There.  
  
Often Junmyeon’s still working around this time (if a handful of conversations spread over a week is much to go by), so Kyungsoo isn’t expecting a reply to pop up straight away.  
  
[I’ll be busy grooming my fur]  
  
Kyungsoo blinks. That.. could be a rejection. Or a joke. Or true? Who knows. He’s so deep in thought as to how to respond it startles him when the next message pops up.  
  
[and trimming my claws]  
  
Ah, ok. Rejection.  
  
[claw trimming day is the worst :(]  
[you’re not even going to try and convince me your plans are more exciting?]  
  
Hmm. Is this flirting?  
  
This whole time Chanyeol’s been sat on the other couch, totally oblivious to Kyungsoo’s struggle with how to intone text messages. He’s sitting tense, elbows planted on his knees and his phone gripped tight between both hands. It’s his concentration stance. Kyungsoo waits until his shoulders relax and he’s started blinking again and sidles over to him.  
  
“Problem,” he says. Chanyeol obligingly lifts his arm so Kyungsoo can wriggle in against his side. He’s too solid to be _comfortable_ , as such, but there’s nothing more comforting than a Chanyeol hug.  
  
“Your cat friend giving you trouble?” Chanyeol bundles Kyungsoo in under his arm like he’s hiking him up to carry, making sure he’s well tucked in. Obligingly Kyungsoo tumbles in against him, a hand braced against Chanyeol’s waist. He nods. Chanyeol pouts.  
  
“No, it’s not..” Kyungsoo presses his face into Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I think I like him?”  
  
“Oh?”  
  
“He turned me down. Then said it was a joke. And I was sad, and then relieved.”  
  
“No anger anywhere in there..?” Chanyeol tilts down, eyeing Kyungsoo curiously. It’d be unnerving if it was anyone else. Even so the sudden gasp startles Kyungsoo a little. “You’re right! This isn’t rage, it’s _blushing_.”  
  
Spluttering indignantly doesn’t stop Chanyeol from pressing his massive hand to Kyungsoo’s forehead, humming loudly, and declaring, “My official diagnosis is that you have a crush.”  
  
Jabbing Chanyeol in the side would only result in him propelling himself and Kyungsoo off the couch. “Lies,” Kyungsoo huffs. He buries deep down into the fabric of Chanyeol’s sweater to sulk, then realises he should probably get back to Junmyeon and see if he can go about convincing him a coffee date will be at least as enthralling as trimming his claws. But Chanyeol’s started absently rubbing at the short hair at the back of his head now, swirling his fingertips through it. It’s relaxing, so Kyungsoo makes no move to push away. Seems like Kyungsoo allows petting at any stage of the relationship.  
  
“Happy for you,” Chanyeol rumbles above his head. Kyungsoo smiles, buries back in against his warm, broad chest and ignores him.  


  
———

 

“Sex work,” Junmyeon says.  
  
Kyungsoo coughs the foam off the top of his drink.  
  
“That’s the most common career for independent hybrids,” Junmyeon shrugs, tail straightening and curling at the tip on the bench beside him. Kyungsoo knuckles the cocoa dust and foam from his upper lip and kind of wishes he hadn’t asked. It was just a genuine curiosity he’d had, but, yeah. Makes sense. “You’d think by now people would be more accepting of how many hybrids choose to live without humans, huh.”  
  
Kyungsoo nods, frowning. “You would hope so. But now you mention it, I don’t really see any hybrids working.” Junmyeon himself works from home. Kyungsoo didn’t say a word more about hating his own, similar job he could only get because of his own dumb choices. He had choices. “I suppose the perception is that they can’t? Is that.. Is that it?”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Junmyeon slouches down a little further on the elbow he’s resting on. “Typing is _so_ hard with my claws. And all the hairball breaks.” He glances back up at Kyungsoo, his ears cocking with the gesture. Checking he doesn’t look too bored by the subject before continuing, “It is that, but also what opportunities do we get to learn? I was lucky my human wanted me educated. I never have to meet anyone I write for face to face. You can bet if they knew I wasn’t human they’d find something wrong with my work.”  
  
Kyungsoo nods again, setting his drink down and folding his arms on the table. Hybrid independence has only been on the rise for four or so years - he did a little research into the movement. Junmyeon’s really still within some of the earliest independents, the ones figuring this all out. For whatever reason he’s chosen this route and not applied to be assigned another owner, Kyungsoo’s becoming increasingly interested in learning. It hasn’t exactly been an easy ride, being the queer highschool dropout, but even the least fair parts of Kyungsoo’s life he had the privilege of fucking up all by himself.  
  
“If we had the opportunity to be educated at the same level as humans I think we’d thrive,” Junmyeon traces the wood grain in the table with a claw, “There’s things we can do that humans just can’t. But even in basic employment, I think we only have traits as inconvenient as any human can have. Sure we have some quirks that you don’t, but it doesn’t affect our capability any more than, say, how some humans are just inconsiderate or lack dedication.” He sighs, picking at a small hole in the wood. Then seems to remember his present company is a human - one he’s supposed to be showing his better side to - and flashes Kyungsoo a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I’m getting all hybrid rights on you.”  
  
“No, no, it’s fine.” It’s the first time Kyungsoo’s seen Junmyeon’s lazy, languid kitty demeanour really give way. It matters. It’s not like Kyungsoo has anything more pressing he needs or wants to be doing with his time, or anyone else he has these kinds of conversations with. “There’s a lot to be angry about. I think anyone who.. ah, you know,” he frowns. He can’t ever understand what coming from Junmyeon’s background is like, or what the experience he’s going through is like, but there’s similarities there. It’s not just empathy. “Anyone who isn’t the ideal model of a human has a hard time and gets to be as angry as they want about it.”  
  
Junmyeon pulls his drink in and lifts it, wrinkles his nose, and sets it back down. He’d only really wanted it to lick the cream off the top. “I don’t know about those,” he shrugs, “Aren’t you all as annoying as each other?”  
  
Explaining the complexities of gender inequality and his own experiences - didn’t even need to be _dating_ a man, just seen in the wrong place by the wrong person - might take longer than this cafe stays open. After a moments thought Kyungsoo says, “You know my roommate?”  
  
“The one with the shy ears?”  
  
“Yes,” the corner of Kyungsoo’s mouth tugs into a smile at that description, “Well, he’s older than me and still a student. His parents still want to help him, so he can be. He can’t keep a job so he volunteers. He likes working - he’ll do whatever he’s asked and more, and he’s good at pretty much any task he’s given. He’s too smart for most of the work he gets. But employers just see who he is on paper and that they’d possibly need to make small changes for him, and they don’t want to know.”  
  
“Who he is on paper?” Junmyeon tilts his head curiously.  
  
It’s not really Kyungsoo’s place to elaborate on the details. “I think people call them hidden disabilities,” he says. Junmyeon still looks puzzled. “It’s not like he’s got a tail that everyone can see, like with you. It’s kind of like.. if he had a really tiny tail that practically no one even noticed, but then someone looks at his documents and they’re like, it says here he’s a hybrid. We didn’t notice that he was, but he is, so that’s a problem.”  
  
“If you use being a hybrid as an example it just makes it confusing,” Junmyeon mutters, nudging his drink further away from himself. For a moment he keeps his head down, focused on pushing the mug over the slats in the table without spilling the contents.  
  
Kyungsoo looks past him, watching the reflections of other humans walking by in the cafe windows. Maybe that wasn’t a great way of explaining it. Maybe, considering he’s made it as far as a second date, he should be trying to make lighter conversation. Wanting to have discussions is a good sign of getting along with someone though, right? Maybe.  
  
“There’s security in the industry, I suppose,” Junmyeon says after a long pause for thought. “They don’t lie to you that the world is big and scary - it is. A lot of hybrids want the training, and they want to be taken in by a human. If you’re lucky you get a good one. Even if you’re unlucky you only get mistreated by one, not a whole world of them. It’s still a home. Humans don’t really have options like that if they need looking after, do they.”  
  
Kyungsoo hums agreement, then drains the last of his drink.  
  
It’s not a particularly uncomfortable silence that follows, even as it starts to drag on. Dating works differently for everyone. Kyungsoo side-eyes the gentle sway of Junmyeon’s tail and thinks back to Jongdae’s advice, and how absolutely useless it was, and how smoothly Jongdae’s own relationship has progressed. Huh.  
  
Taking their drinks outside had seemed a nice idea when they’d arrived, but the nearer to sunset the colder it’s turning. Kyungsoo shifts to pull his jacket tighter around himself as Junmyeon leans back with a sigh. Their shoulders bump, and Junmyeon immediately breaks into a grin.  
  
“This is the worst date I’ve been on, Do Kyungsoo.” That big cheshire grin again. His tail is in a hook, and as far as Kyungsoo knows, that’s a good sign. “And I’ve been on a lot of dates.”  
  
“You said you didn’t rate them,” Kyungsoo counters. Somehow he still doesn’t feel like he’s lost.  
  
According to his reliable sources he definitely has a crush. He _could_ pass it off as just a good intellectual match, but then there’s how he always seems to return Junmyeon’s smiles before he’s noticed he’s doing it. And how he’s started to lose time in the evenings when they text and whole half hours fly by. It makes his insides all squirmy and happy when Junmyeon sends emojis during his lunch break just to check that Kyungsoo is taking a break too.  
  
“So I’ll tell work to schedule me in for that day I left open,” Kyungsoo says as they set off for the station. He’s got his hands buried deep in his pockets and found a loose thread inside one to fiddle with. Junmyeon pouts at him, tilts his head inquisitively, and Kyungsoo considers that yeah, probably wanting to kiss someone this much is a positive sign of a crush, too. “Obviously I’d make more of an effort for the third date, but seeing as this one was so bad..”

“ _You_ were bad,” Junmyeon elbows Kyungsoo, “I was a perfect date.”

 

Junmyeon waits with Kyungsoo on the uncomfortable platform seats. They bicker about coffee and complain about the weather, the work they have to get back to. Junmyeon kicks Kyungsoo’s ankle when he asks if Junmyeon’s likely to chase the bird that’s pecking around the next row of seats along from them. All Kyungsoo’s really focused on is the soft, slow brush of Junmyeon’s tail against his inner arm.  
  
Kyungsoo feels a little floaty and silly for the whole ride home. Judging by the way Chanyeol practically leaps at him for a congratulatory hug when he gets in that’s a good sign.  


  
———

 

Date three was going to be a movie and dinner and maybe more, later, Kyungsoo was just going to see how things went. Date three is allegedly petting date, after all.

Junmyeon turns up at Kyungsoo’s place twenty minutes late babbling about deadlines and overtime and is fast asleep on the couch by the time he’s made them both coffee. Kyungsoo doesn’t really like eating with a bunch of strangers around anyway.  
  
For the first five minutes Kyungsoo finds it a little awkward tiptoeing around the place, unsure whether to wake Junmyeon from his catnap. Chanyeol perhaps didn’t pick up on the implication, but he obligingly made plans to be absent until late, so..essentially there’s no reason to disturb Junmyeon just yet.  
  
In the end Kyungsoo sits back at his laptop and catches up on some emails. Irate customers aren’t half as bad to respond to with soft kitty snores in the background. The sound becomes so monotonous that eventually Kyungsoo doesn’t even notice it. Or when it stops. A sudden call of, “human,” startles him.  
  
“I’m guessing this is a gift for me?”  
  
Junmyeon’s sitting up now, tail swaying. The toy that Jongdae bought isn’t tucked away between the two couches anymore, it’s on the coffee table. Junmyeon’s left hand claws are sunk deep into the fabric goldfish at the end of the string. Ah.  
  
“My friend..“ Kyungsoo winces. That’s worse, maybe? No, not worse. But implies that Kyungsoo’s friends are laughing about this - about Kyungsoo dating a cat. And that he’s _letting_ them. “It seemed too nice to just throw out, I kept meaning to get around to reselling it or giving it away or something.”  
  
“Oh, don’t look so worried.” Junmyeon waves Kyungsoo off like he’s being far too boring. “If I was five years younger you’d have had me playing with this all night.”  
  
Kyungsoo doesn’t mean to laugh, but that’s some mental image. He shuts his laptop and moves from his desk to the couch. Junmyeon shifts to make room for him, drawing his legs up and folding in small. Both his tail and ears look a little droopy. “So exactly how late did this deadline keep you up?”  
  
Junmyeon just shakes his head. It doesn’t bear thinking about now it’s over. “Sorry for.. I’m so tired,” he huffs, breaking the circle around his knees to lift both arms and then drop them heavily to his sides, like an emphatic shrug. “I didn’t want to cancel on you, but maybe I should have.”  
  
“I’m really not adverse to quiet nights in. Though I think they’re generally reserved for after all the going out and getting to know each other part.”  
  
The look Junmyeon gives Kyungsoo isn’t his usual playful pout. There’s something less sullen about it, more like he’s trying to set his jaw. “All our dates are so boring.” He wiggles himself closer and droops his head onto Kyungsoo’s shoulder. ”You’re the first human to make it to date three in a long time, though. Anything is fine with me.”  
  
This is pretty good with Kyungsoo too. It feels nice to have Junmyeon closer. “You usually break things off after the petting date?” he asks. It’s teasing, but Junmyeon doesn’t seem as quick on his comebacks today. Maybe he just gets grouchy when he’s tired.  
  
“Something like that.” Junmyeon smiles, small and dull. The tip of his right ear brushes Kyungsoo’s jaw. “Maybe you’re the first. Human, that is.”  
  
Kyungsoo laughs. “Oh? Wow. Even when I got such a bad score.”  
  
“Yeah.” Junmyeon reaches for his throat, drops his fingers down to fiddle with the neckline of his shirt. That’s when it dawns on Kyungsoo why this isn’t as amusing to Junmyeon as it is to him.  
  
“But even if they have been pretty boring, you know I really have liked talking about your things though, right?” he continues, trying to keep his tone casual enough to not make it obvious he’s picked up on Junmyeon’s mood. “There’s so much I didn’t understand or even consider. If all we get out of being set up is someone to complain to about things that’s still pretty good.” Admittedly if it had worked out that way some kissing would have been nice. No kissing is fine, too, though. Kyungsoo’s had long enough without to survive a little longer.  
  
Junmyeon snorts. “Is it?”  
  
It definitely is, Kyungsoo thinks. “We both find it hard to get along with people, so if we found someone we can talk to..” Unsure if it’s an appropriate move or not, Kyungsoo is slow and cautious in slipping his hand away from Junmyeon’s waist and up his spine, into the back of his hair. All Junmyeon does is flick an ear. How had Chanyeol done this petting thing? He’d had a pretty good technique.  
  
“You’re the only person who’s come back with questions.” Junmyeon sounds a little drifty again. Kyungsoo must be getting that nice stroking thing down ok. “And now I’m realising I don’t usually have to think of other things to talk about.”  
  
Kyungsoo hums. “It’s not like I’m expecting you to spend time with me and let me get away with saying or doing something that’s bad for you.”  
  
The warmth of Junmyeon pressed to his side suddenly lifts away. Kyungsoo turns his head just in time to see Junmyeon leaning in, tilting, and- Junmyeon’s hot sandpaper tongue on his cheek isn’t exactly what he was expecting. There’s only a second of wet contact and then Junmyeon jolts back, like maybe he hadn’t been expecting that either.  
  
“Oh-“ Junmyeon’s ears pin down to his hair. “I am- so sorry, that-  
  
“It’s ok,” Kyungsoo says quickly. He’s a little wet and bemused, but it’s..yeah. He pats the damp streak with his sleeve. It’s a move in the right direction.  
  
“It’s not ok,” Junmyeon frets, ears down, tail hanging limp off the side of the couch. “It’s- I’m sorry, I know it’s disgusting. Wet and unhygienic and.. You just- said that, and I felt..” he trails off. He doesn’t even know, he just _felt_.  
  
“Junmyeon, I don’t mind,” Kyungsoo frowns. He doesn’t like this at all, Junmyeon suddenly seeming so unsure of him. Not even just that - he felt.. and then regretted it? “I’m just happy you feel that way, because I didn’t know when to.. it was that kind of gesture, right?”  
  
“Humans _kiss_ ,” Junmyeon’s looking at Kyungsoo like he should know that by now. Which he does, obviously, even if he may be pretty rusty at the whole relationship thing. But Junmyeon isn’t a human, so. Intimacy is intimacy.  
  
“If our instincts are different we can meet halfway, no? It’s not like kissing isn’t even wetter and even less hygienic.”  
  
“Our inst-“ Junmyeon huffs. Kyungsoo does seem to be showing a genuine lack of distress at his date attempting to groom him, so Junmyeon’s temper is quickly returning. “You make it sound so serious. All I want to do is nuzzle a little and y.. and, anyway, what do you expect me to think is going to happen? The- it, I don’t know _why_ I keep trying to find a decent human anyway.” Venting is just an attempt to steer the subject away as Kyungsoo looks at him with interest. It isn’t working. “You’re a dog person,” Junmyeon reminds Kyungsoo, pouting, “What do you even know about how cats like to be treated.”  
  
Kyungsoo fully shifts to face Junmyeon. “Don’t deflect,” he says, “I mean.. sorry. I know this is complicated, it’s.. it’s layered. But, nuzzling?” Junmyeon’s fluffy left ear twitches in what Kyungsoo can only assume is annoyance. His face is doing a pretty good job of conveying that too, and Kyungsoo can’t help how endeared he is to what a sourpuss Junmyeon can be. “Tell me, come on. We got as far as agreeing we’re interested.” In a roundabout way. “Do you want to have to make a fourth date just to draw up terms on how close we want to get?”  
  
“Ugh.” Scowling, Junmyeon hugs his knees to his chest again and drops his chin down. “You have no idea. I’ve been thinking about it since we first met. That doesn’t mean I like you,” he adds quickly. Kyungsoo smiles, so Junmyeon swats at him with his tail. “It must just be something about your head. Makes me think about rubbing against you.”  
  
Kyungsoo can’t help laughing at that. He likes his hair kept short because it’s one less thing to worry about, and in his opinion it suits him. His mother hates it. Everyone, however quietly, seems to hate it. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”  
  
Anyway, it’s not strictly true that Kyungsoo is clueless. He _was_ \- he’s always been indifferent to cats, yes, but what’s the most popular thing to post online? He wouldn’t want to make condescending assumptions about Junmyeon’s similarities to the endless loops of kitten videos Chanyeol’s been finding for him, but he at least doesn’t think they’re just unfriendly not-dogs anymore. He also doesn’t want to assume where the similarities in Junmyeon’s hybrid genetics are. Whether Junmyeon nosing at his cheek and pushing his jaw up against Kyungsoo’s is just a cat trait grown into a human, or whether Junmyeon was..marking him, as such.

Either way, nuzzling seemed pretty pleasant. And though not in quite the context Kyungsoo had been anticipating when he asked Chanyeol if he’d mind spending the evening with a friend, one thing inevitably leads to another. Kyungsoo’s never really seen the appeal to sitting with a cat in your lap demanding attention before, but Junmyeon wriggles down into the couch and makes a pillow of Kyungsoo’s thigh, and it isn’t so bad after all.  
  
Actually this is the most relaxed Kyungsoo has seen Junmyeon since knowing him. He always seems a little on guard, like he needs to stay tightly wound so he’s ready for whatever, whenever. Kyungsoo scritches under his chin, around his jaw. The skin is rougher there. He rubs the pads of his fingers over the grain of stubble soon to grow through, and there’s a pleased tense-release that rolls through Junmyeon from head to toe.  
  
“Is that nice?” Kyungsoo thumbs the line of Junmyeon’s jaw and up behind his human ear, “Just tell me if I do anything that’s..”  
  
Junmyeon shushes him. “Less worrying more petting.”  
  
Kyungsoo can do that. Maybe this isn’t in the most conventional way, but making someone you like feel good is something he _has_ always enjoyed about the whole relationship thing. “Cats are so demanding.”  
  
Junmyeon hums agreement. His tail sways lazily. “Dogs just don’t know how to ask. They’ll wait forever hoping for anything. We just know what we want.” Kind of. He knows what he wants in the present, moment to moment. “You know I’ve never been looking for someone to replace my..” referring to his previous owner as his human feels..not right, now, when Kyungsoo is a human too. They’re all just humans. “Um.”  
  
“You said, before. That you didn’t want to go back to that.”  
  
“It’s not like I even like humans that much,” Junmyeon sighs. He pats Kyungsoo’s forearm - he’s an ok human - and leaves his fingers wrapped around it. Kyungsoo can see the veins standing up in the back of his hand. “But getting close to other hybrids is hard. I end up just sheltering them like a human would, or all we have in common are stories about what things were like before. Or worse, they’re still collared and just looking for a way out. It’s still too new, you know? Maybe in five..ten years we’ll have adapted more to independence. We’ll have better guidance.”  
  
“Connecting with people can just be like that,” Kyungsoo says. A frown forms between Junmyeon’s brows. It’s tempting to iron it back out with a thumb. “Dating men. Sometimes they’re not out to anyone and want you to be a secret, or they’re experimenting, or you’re just fun until they meet a girl to get serious with..all kinds of things. Scared humans are learning to be decent to each other pretty slowly, too.”  
  
Junmyeon shifts, kicking a heel into the arm of the couch to twist more upward facing in Kyungsoo’s lap. “You were right. About us dating just to meet up and complain about dating.”  
  
“There’s worse ways to spend an evening,” Kyungsoo reasons. Three days ago a server went down and he spent hours sending apologetic tweets out in response to the abuse a service going down for one evening draws in. Last night Jongdae facetimed him from bed to discuss when he’d need help with packing. Kyungsoo saw more of Minseok (pixelated - bless Jongdae’s weak wifi) in the background than he’s ever needed to. This is practically the highlight of his month.

Junmyeon’s hold on his arm tightens. He draws Kyungsoo’s forearm close, pushing his cheekbone up against it. Kyungsoo hadn’t _wanted_ to meet anyone. Definitely hadn’t wanted any long-term commitments. Seems like Junmyeon’s never intended to process all of this, either. There’s something to be said for that in both of them.  
  
Junmyeon’s mouth ghosts the soft skin of Kyungsoo’s inner arm. For a moment Kyungsoo imagines the wet heat of his tongue again, or his teeth digging in. But Junmyeon’s just staring vacantly, just holding onto him, and then with a sigh he lets go.  
  
“It’s just so hard to trust human intentions. It’s hard to trust my _own_ intentions sometimes. In all this time I haven’t actually had to consider what happens next. I meet people, then I forget about them and meet new ones. I keep telling myself it’s a benefit of.. or even a privilege of being free and uncollared, and so I’ll learn to interact with people like normal and move on from being owned. Because I need to do that.” Junmyeon teethes his lower lip and tugs at it. “Can’t let yourself down if you don’t get into that situation in the first place.”  
  
Maybe it’s the warmth of another body that’s making Kyungsoo feel so lax about all this. “If it’s reassuring, this is all I have,” he says easily. So he likes a kitty. He’s actually having a nice time talking to someone that isn’t one of his few regular conversation partners. That lingering weirdness he often struggles to navigate in close relationships - the one where sex is easy and intimacy always seems too much too soon - even that isn’t loud enough to be a bother with a warm cat in his lap and soft fur under his fingers. “So if your ulterior motive is finding someone to care for you again, it would be me _and_ my roommate. He hasn’t worked in three months and I have _just_ enough savings to not die if his arrangements fell through. And I have never cared for anything, human or plant, successfully.”  
  
“That’s a lie. Do you ever read your own texts back? Your Chanyeol sounds like he gets cared for plenty.” Well, fair, that is true. Kyungsoo’s just used to the routine of it after all this time. Plus Chanyeol is practically too self-aware for his own good; he’s always doing good deeds to compensate for time no one minds spending. “Anyway, what about you? You don’t date at all now, right? When was the last time someone.. I mean, you,” Junmyeon fumbles, then laughs, “‘When was the last time someone petted you’, I was going to say.”  
  
Kyungsoo smiles, traces the blunt edges of his nails right up from Junmyeon’s jaw to behind his pointed ear. His eyelashes flutter at the touch, and Kyungsoo considers again how relaxing he’s finding this himself. “Quite a long time ago. I have Chanyeollie, so I don’t really notice.” Wait, Junmyeon’s never met him. “Ah, not that we- it’s never crossed a line. He’s just a very tactile person,” Kyungsoo hurries to add, “He doesn’t date either. He has enough room in his heart for probably at least ten people, but only a handful of friends to give it all to. And I’m the one he lives with, so..”  
  
“You’re the one responsible for the day to day affection.”  
  
“Mm. It’s a big responsibility,” Kyungsoo laughs. Junmyeon looks up at him, maybe a little fond. Maybe just thinking he’s stupid, but hey. Junmyeon’s probably met plenty of humans in more conventional circumstances than Kyungsoo’s, but Kyungsoo’s the one he’s here with. “You’ll see why being big spoon is challenging if you meet him. Though you’ll have to be careful, he’ll be dragging you into cuddle piles before you know it.”  
  
Junmyeon’s tail swishes, and it dampens the silly light feeling that had been bubbling up in Kyungsoo’s chest. He’s not sure how to read it. Curly means happy, flicking is angry - he knows that much. He’d left the tab open on his phone but got distracted by an article on five common household dangers to cats, so that’s all he knows.  
  
“Would you mind that? It..” Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose. Meeting Chanyeol really does him a lot more justice than trying to describe him. “It’s not, you know. Me and him, there’s a boundary. And if he met you, he’s careful even if he’s enthusiastic.”  
  
Junmyeon hums. “He sounds like most puppies I know. Why would I mind it?” He smiles up at Kyungsoo, eyes dark and sparkling with what Kyungsoo would like to read as affection. But he’s known Junmyeon long enough now to recognise it for what it is: no-good. “Is there a reason I should mind a casual acquaintance being close to someone else?”  
  
Kissing Junmyeon then isn’t a decision Kyungsoo actively makes. He’s bent in and down and pressed his lips to Junmyeon’s kitty-curl smile before he’s had time to think better of it. Judging by the little pleased sound Junmyeon makes, there wasn’t a better choice. It’s soft and brief - Kyungsoo’s at too bad an angle to stay like it for long - and they’re both pink-cheeked when they part. Kyungsoo mostly from bending forward like that.  
  
“You’re such- a human,” Junmyeon huffs. It’s not often he’s lost for words; it shows so clear in his eyes that he’s fumbling for something sharp. He’s adorable. Kyungsoo’s had weeks to find a better word, but there isn’t one. Eventually he manages, “Not too bad.”  
  
It’s not only for the challenge of it that Kyungsoo ducks back down. This time he licks at the edge of Junmyeon’s mouth. Not a kiss, but a slow, deliberate drag of his tongue. His hand still in Junmyeon’s hair, Kyungsoo thumbs along the soft edge of an ear until he finds the spot that makes Junmyeon’s mouth fall open for him. Junmyeon’s tongue is almost painfully rough sliding over his own, but all he’s focused on is whatever will make the kitty in his lap keep mewling. Until he’s aware of the sound of Junmyeon’s claws dragging against the fabric of the couch. It’s not his couch.  
  
Kyungsoo draws back and gives Junmyeon’s arm a playful tap. “Chanyeollie will spray you with water if you do that when he’s around.” It’s not Chanyeol’s either - it’s his parent’s.  
  
“Oh,” Junmyeon’s too dazed to understand exactly what he’s being scolded for, until he tries to lift the arm and finds his claws hooked into a cushion. Oops. “Your fault,” he accuses. The words comes out thick, trying to curl into a purr. Kyungsoo’s still thumbing the silky fold of his ear. He doesn’t really need to ever move again.  
  
Thankfully Kyungsoo has no interest in moving just yet either. He presses his other hand to Junmyeon’s chest, fitting his finger and thumb under his collarbones. “My fault,“ he agrees, “Next you’re going to tell me I’m misunderstanding why cats purr.” The rumbles are vibrating against his palm. Junmyeon just looks up at him, answering with long, measured blinks. Kyungsoo doesn’t bend down to kiss him again, but he does feel sure enough to ask, “Would you like to spend another boring evening with this casual acquaintance sometime next week?”  
  
Another slow blink, then Junmyeon arches up and gives his inner wrist a sharp nip in response.  
  
  
“You know getting to pet me was a euphemism, Do Kyungsoo.” Junmyeon lets Kyungsoo be a gentleman and hold his jacket for him as he slips his arms in. “You’re the only human who’s ever succeeded in _actually_ petting me.”  
  
That doesn’t infer that others haven’t tried. “I didn’t seriously think you’d find many humans who’d be up for a whole night of scratching behind your ears,” Kyungsoo purses back a smile. It just kind of happened, in that way things do. Not that petting is usually that thing. “I enjoyed it, though.”  
  
Junmyeon shrugs his jacket up and pulls the hood so his pointy ears are hidden. “So did I. It’s harder to get a good petting than the other thing you humans are always offering,” he raises an accusing eyebrow at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, who didn’t entirely have honourable intentions, so just lets his smile fully form. Junmyeon returns it, but then he scowls. “No that I _asked_. Making me feel things and talk about stuff.”  
  
Despite the grumbling Junmyeon lets Kyungsoo pull him in for a peck on the cheek when they reach the door. Of its own volition his tail sneaks back out from where he’d tucked it away in his jacket and coils around the arm at his waist. Stupid thing, he’s _trying_ to play hard to get. That’s maybe a lost cause when he’s been reflexively purring every time Kyungsoo’s touched him in the last twenty minutes.  
  
Really Kyungsoo shouldn’t be delaying things now anyway. Chanyeol’s due back any minute. And he’s sure Chanyeol will adore Junmyeon when he meets him, but he’s not sure Junmyeon’s up for that much human attention all in one night. “It’s not all that bad,” he shrugs, “The talking thing. Or the feeling thing. I’m not all that bad, right?  
  
“You?” Junmyeon steps out into the hallway, arms twisted behind himself to stuff his tail back under his jacket. It’s actually pretty weird seeing him with nothing identifiably feline showing. “The rest is ok,” he decides. He wrinkles his nose at Kyungsoo. “You, you’re bad.”

“Unfortunately I’ll always be human,” Kyungsoo says, leaning lazy against the door frame. Junmyeon steps in to meet him for a kiss that’s all harsh licks and a bite into Kyungsoo’s smile.

 

(By date seven Junmyeon finally concedes that maybe he’s not all that bad, for a human.)


End file.
